Notes on the new water reform law
In the afterglow of a historic water reform law passing the Legislature this week, it's good to remember a few things:
1. Voters next year still need to approve the $11 billion in bonds. It is not a slam dunk.
2. There is an oversight council now to monitor every twitch of every species in the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But there is no money yet to pay for it. Look for that in January.
3. The state is going to hire 25 new inspectors to catch folks who are illegally diverting water from streams. But right now, there's no real penalty, just a laborious process that could result years later in a fine. And the fine is just about what the thief would have paid for the water to begin with.
Will this new law make any more difference than the Calfed Bay-Delta Program, which flopped over the last dozen years or so?
Comments:
Hmm, I wonder what the cost is going to be for those here on the North Coast when once again water from our rivers is diverted to the Central Valley. Not only have we lost an entire marine-based industry because of the damage done to the Trinity river, it seems that once again the only solution Sacramento can come up with is to denude our rivers so that people can live in a desert. Thanks Central Valley!
Posted by: HumboldtBlue at November 5, 2009 4:57 PM
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